The London private sector market has seen a consistent stream of vacancies, with some ebbs and flows in temporary and permanent hiring. The end of 2021 into early 2022 saw peak interim job flow (95% of this being inside IR35), whereas now the focus on company hiring is with permament and fixed term heads. Compared to the year before, we have experienced a strong increase in job flow, totalling an increase of 53% compared to summer 2021.

This is a very positive market development, however the recruitment challenge here is ensuring companies have the right selling points that they can then showcase to candidates at interview stage. As there are so many more job opportunities for candidates, interview processes are just as much about the candidate interviewing the employer as the other way around. Companies offering better career development opportunities for more junior procurement professionals are the preferred choice for candidates, whilst for more senior professionals and those working as interims, flexibility and home-working come out on top as the main deciding factors.

In the interim world, we are seeing companies that are not moving on their daily rates losing out on candidates. In London, anything less than £500 per day within any category will not be enough to secure talent in the current market. Strong contractors are being kept on at their current organisations, meaning companies are having to up their daily rates in order to persuade them to move (especially if the role is inside IR35).

A skill shortage furthermore remains in the public sector procurement market, which is being exacerbated by the ongoing mismatch between candidates’ salary expectations and employers’ salary packages and expectations regarding experience.